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NEW CUMBERLAND -- Hancock County was among the top five counties in student proficiency throughout West Virginia in 2016.
Superintendent Tim Woodward presented test scores for the county Monday during the Board of Education meeting and confirmed the district was the fifth-highest scoring county in the state for proficiency last year, based on test results in the areas of English/Language Arts and Math.
The proficiency test results covered students in grades 3-8 and 11.
In regard to English/Language Arts, five of the seven grades performed better than the state average. According to results, the county's third graders were 51 percent proficient, compared to the state average of 45 percent. The county's fourth graders were 59 percent versus the state's 47 percent. Sixth graders in the county outperformed the state 59 percent to 45 percent. Seventh graders in the county exceeded the state 54 percent to 48 percent, and high school juniors in the county beat the state's average 57 percent to 50 percent.
The county's fifth and eighth grades, however, saw a slightly lower ELA proficiency score compared to state averages. Those results showed 46 percent from county fifth graders compared to the state's 49 percent, and 43 percent of county eighth graders were deemed proficient, lower than the state's 45 percent.
In terms of Math, meanwhile, six of the seven grades outperformed the state in proficiency, again with fifth grade in the county lower than the state's average.
For this subject, 55 percent of sixth graders were deemed proficient compared to the state average of 32 percent. County third graders were 59 percent compared to the state's 48 percent. Fourth graders in the county were 58 percent proficient to the state's 43 percent. Seventh graders in the county were 46 percent versus the state's 31 percent.
County eighth graders had only 31 percent proficiency, but it was still higher than the state's average of 30 percent, and county high school juniors were only 23 percent (or a little more than two out of 10 students) proficient in Math, still higher than the state at 22 percent.
Fifth graders in the county again scored below the state at 27 percent, compared to the state at 34 percent.
"That's a pretty common trend in West Virginia," Woodward said. "Fifth grade, we don't really know, but something happens there, but they seem to catch up in sixth grade."
Woodward, meanwhile, also presented the ACT scores for the county and state, with the county exceeding the state's average on this assessment as well. According to Woodward, in 2017, the county scored a 20.6 average composite score based on all four tests, compared to the state's average of 20.4, and outperformed the state in three of the four sections.
"The ACT scores, we're performing better because that test to those high school kids means something," Woodward said. "It's about them getting into college."
In Math, the county scored an average 20.2 composite score compared to the state at 19.4. For Reading, the county tested at 21.5 versus the state's average of 21.2, and the county outscored the state in Science, 20.7 to 20.5.
The only test the county scored lower than the state was English, where the county had a 19.7, while the state had a 20.0. Woodward also said that the county's average in 2017 was a decrease from the year before at 20.9.
Overall, Woodward expressed satisfaction in the county's results, but had some concerns with the smarter balance data, and stated that although the math proficiency scores were rather low on the 11th grade level, the students were able to score high composites on their ACTs.
"When you look at the time spent on the test and the computer tells you the time spent on the test, tests that should've taken two hours, kids were taking 30 minutes," Woodward said. "It goes to relevance. Kids have to feel like something's relevant and then they're going to give you their best effort."
Woodward, meanwhile, stated that as for the lower results, the county will continue to work to improve in those areas, which includes bringing in different programs and instructional coaches to help the students, data talks with principals, star monitoring and remediation to review gaps.